We, co-chairs and members of the cross-party informal Hong Kong Watch Group within the European Parliament, strongly welcome the recent bipartisan letter sent by Senators of the United States, Marco Rubio and Benjamin L. Cardin, urging closer EU-US coordination on Hong Kong. We urge the European Union to seize on this opportunity to build a robust transatlantic dialogue on this pressing issue and ensure that our policies towards Hong Kong and China are consistent with the values on which our Union is built.
The unilaterally imposed so-called ‘national security law for Hong Kong’ is the most recent breach of Hong Kong’s autonomy, rule of law, basic freedoms as well as international agreements. The increasing arbitrary arrests and detentions of pro-democracy politicians and activists, curbing of media and press freedoms, violations of international humanitarian norms by the Hong Kong authorities are but some examples of the increasingly worrying and deteriorating situation.
In its June 2020 resolution, the European Parliament stressed that the international community must work together closely to put pressure on the People’s Republic of China to ensure that its actions are in line with the country’s international commitments. Now, when the Coronavirus pandemic laid bare our vulnerabilities vis-à-vis China’s extensive foreign interests, we must answer with ever greater adhesion to our values and principles, and do so in cooperation with our allies.
We, therefore, strongly urge the President of the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy to convene the US-EU Dialogue on China as soon as possible. We warmly welcome the initiative of the members of the US Congress, and stand ready to assist in strengthening transatlantic dialogue and cooperation on Hong Kong and China.
Reinhard Bütikofer MEP (Greens/EFA,Germany)
Miriam Lexmann MEP (EPP, Slovakia)
Petras Auštrevičius MEP (Renew, Lithuania)
Juan Fernando López Aguilar MEP (S&D, Spain)
Anna Fotyga MEP (ECR, Poland)
David Lega MEP (EPP, Sweden)
Bert-Jan Ruissen MEP (ECR, Netherlands)
Alviina Alametsä MEP (Greens/EFA, Finland)
Michaela Šojdrová MEP (EPP/Czechia)
Engin Eroglu MEP (Renew, Germany)
Hannah Neumann MEP (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Hilde Vautmans MEP (Renew, Belgium)
Mikuláš Peksa MEP (Greens/EFA, Czechia)
Antonio López-Istúriz White MEP (EPP, Spain)
Salima Yenbou MEP (Greens/EFA, France)
Javier Nart MEP (Renew, Spain)
Rasa Juknevičienė MEP (EPP, Lithuania)
Andrius Kubilius MEP (EPP, Lithuania)
Viola von Cramon-Taubadel MEP (Greens/Germany)
Francisco Guerreiro MEP (Greens/EFA, Portugal)
François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, France)
